I have been traveling the world as a journalist and passionate lover of all things fun for 20 years. I have had weekly columns in USA Today and Investors Business Daily, published thousands of articles in leading magazines from Playboy to Popular Science, and am the author of Getting Into Guinness. I am the Contributing Travel Editor for Cigar Aficionado Magazine, the restaurant columnist for USAToday.com, and am a co-founder of TheAPosition.com, the leading golf travel website. I love every kind of travel, active, cultural and leisurely, and my special areas of expertise are luxury hotels and resorts, golf, skiing, food, wine and spirits. I tweet @TravelFoodGuy

For the most part, each judge did a good job on their own. However, I likened them to a sports team of highly paid free agents and worried that they might not mesh. That lack of cohesion seems like it is going to be the biggest problem. And the biggest distraction.

Individually, I was concerned most about Nicki Minaj, but she has been very solid, and her comments were generally the most literate and profound of the group. She brings a nice touch of compassion, like Paula Abdul and Jennifer Lopez before her, but without their fear of criticism. She can tell it like it is without coming off as cruel. One big problem however – the fake English accent, while a good one, has got to go. As in it can’t go away fast enough. Like yesterday.

I had the least foresight about Keith Urban, but figured he would fit well simply because the country genre increasingly meshes with the show’s direction. But so far there have been fewer country singers auditioning, yet nonetheless, Urban has proven polite, well-spoken, likeable and helpful, regardless of the type of music. He’s been another pleasant surprise on his own, but is suffering from being seated between his two caustic rookie co-hosts.

What I like so far about both Minaj and Urban is that they are able to be tough but fair – historically new judges have had a hard time saying no, but they could, they did, and they did it with class.

Randy is a known quantity, but I noted that he has been asked to change roles and fill Simon Cowell’s shoes as more of heavy, and for the past two seasons he has been uncomfortable in the role. But he finally seems to have accepted the wily vet niche, and looked at home in his leadership skin as de facto team captain.

Which brings us to Mariah Carey.

What is with all the fake English accents? The judges love to give advice, but here is some for them: just stop it. Photo: Wikipedia

When I earlier described her as a diva, I meant in the musical sense, but she appears to take the term quite literally. Her faux sophistication, pretentious throwing around of French words and uncalled for references to her own acting has the potential to get really old, really fast. We don’t care that Maria is now the 62nd most popular baby name – but obviously she does. When she took a subpar performance with an instrument as license to recall the time she had to play guitar and sing in a movie role, and commented about how hard it is to do these two things at once, she seemed entirely ignorant of the fact that pop music history is chock full of mega stars who have somehow managed to do both. She’s big, but she’s not Elvis big – and the guitar never hurt the King. And her fake English accent is even more annoying than Minaj’s.

But the really big problem is the Minaj-Carey personality conflict. It seems scripted and contrived, as if the producers thought we needed the drama of judge conflict. I really hope it is fake, because that means they can call it off, and they should, as it ain’t working. If the friction is real, the panel might already be doomed – and could drag the fading show down with it. American Idol is ultimately about the contestants, and for over a decade the judges have been able to avoid the appearance of trying to make it about themselves. This was not the case during the first show and it got worse in the second – at times it seemed like we were waiting for the judges to stop bickering and talking about themselves and let the show go on. Maybe it was the director’s fault, since all of this is edited: it isn’t terrible for Mariah Carey to want someone to get her ice – it’s terrible to make the show about that. I’d rather see another audition, good, bad or ugly, than watch the sniping between panelists. There are only so many times Keith Urban can remark how weird it is to be seated between the two before that gets old as well. He is already banging his head on the desk in frustration and it is only two days in.

It’s still very early, just a week into the season, early enough for the new judges to assess and upgrade their own performances, and early enough for the producer and director to make on-the-fly adjustments and try to change the direction. So far there is more good than bad, but what they need amidst declining ratings is excellence. The big concern now is the interaction between the panelists, especially Minaj and Carey – who seems to be igniting most of the friction. The minor problems could fix themselves, but this could grow into a major problem. In that case, as I explained in my last post, I think the panel has always worked better when it was three judges than four, and I could see Jackson, Minaj, and Urban working out long term.

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Your classification of Carey’s role on the show is absolutely ridiculous. While you laud Minaj for her “literate and profound” comments and compassion, you call out Carey for “her faux sophistication, pretentious throwing around of French words and uncalled for references”. This is heavily ironic because, while the things you say about Carey could be arguably true, you are twisting the facts. The french words she “threw around” “pretentiously” amounted to her basically saying “absolument” when asked if a contestant should advance to the next round. Pretentious? Really? Her reference to playing the guitar in a movie was entirely valid, and served to comfort a contestant who was having difficulty, not highlight the fact that she did a movie with a guitar. The comment was an innocent one, and was simply an attempt to empathize with the contestant, not draw attention to herself. Finally, what you try and make seem like Mariah proclaiming that her first name was the 62nd most popular was not really an egotistic comment either. A contestant named Mariah commented that, while previously it was not a popular name, it is now. Is that really that much of a problem?And with respect to her faux British accent, she did it on one or two short occasions, because Minaj would not stop her (far more annoying) British accent. Now Minaj on the other hand, has been unnecessarily catty to Carey, and has also made ridiculous comments to contestants, even in the eyes of the other (much more sensible) judges. Telling an obviously talented contestant that she refused to have her advance to the next because she had the same color eyeshadow isn’t really funny or insightful, its ridiculous. Furthermore, starting a verbal argument and attacking Mariah personally because she commented (rightfully so) on Minaj’s decision was ridiculously rude and tacky. It seems that all she wants to do is throw out digs at Carey and start “catfights” to get attention. Even the other judges seem to be getting sick of her now, and this will only intensify in the next episode. At the end of the day, Minaj is a small time rapper, with maybe 1% of the record sales of Carey, and little to no vocal talent. Mariah Carey is a vocal powerhouse, is the best selling female recording artist of all time, and has more number ones than any single artist in history. She has been in the industry for almost 20 years, and is still relevant, and still has arguably the best voice in the industry. There isn’t really another star that can be compared to her, and while you think she isn’t “Elvis big” I would argue that unlike most pop stars today who hide weak vocals behind flash, pomp and circumstance, Carey has the raw talent to back it up, and is one of the biggest superstars in the world. If there’s a problem with the judging at American Idol, it is Nicki Minaj, not Mariah Carey.

Thanks for reading and writing, though “absolutely ridiculous” might be a little bit of a strong way to characterize our difference of opinion. I guess what looks (a lot) like self-involved behavior to me looks perfectly fine to you, and that’s quite alright by me – you are entitled to your opinion and while I don’t really agree I hardly find your postion absolutely ridiculous.

And I clearly said that the argumentative tone between the two was a big problem and did not take sides in that fight. Assuming it is not fake bad blood doe o purpsoe, which I am not so sure about, trying to say one is to blame is like little kids arguing over who “started it.”

Is Carey a bigger star than Minaj? Absolutely. She’s a bigger star than most people in the industry. Did I ever say she wasn’t? Nope. My critique was about the judges as judges not based on their careers otherwise. Before Idol I wouldn’t recognize Minaj if she bought me drink, and I have never bought either performer’s music. Does this make any difference to their skils as judges. Nope. Obviously you are more of a Carey fan than a Minaj fan and that’s great, music is all about passion, but none of your comments about their respective success has anything to do with my column.

Thank you for your reply to my comment, I appreciate you taking the time to do so. Firstly, I’d agree with you that “absolutely ridiculous” is a tad strong, and for that I apologize. You are certainly entitled to your own opinion as I am mine, as you pointed out.

I understand how one would feel like, as someone who appreciates Mariah more than Nicki, my opinions may be biased, but leaving out talent and focusing specifically on your article, I would disagree with your classification of Minaj’s judging abilities (as I said before). It was shocking that she would say, at least slightly seriously, that she rejected a talented contestant because of her eye-shadow, and proceeded to throw jabs at Carey when she called her out for it in, frankly, not the most aggressive way. I won’t go so far as to say that Minaj started the bad blood between the two, but through that little incident, it does seem like she is trivializing the show, and rather taking away from the focus on the contestant and their talent. I feel like your column, which did raise several good points otherwise, was unfairly harsh on Carey, who so far to me seems to be judging well and supporting contestants, and let slip some of Minaj’s major “diva moments”.

I agree that the eye shadow thing was ridiculous, but as I recall, and I might recall wrong because I crammed through the four hours and already deleted the episode from my Tivo, the judging majority had already voted and her vote had no effect, so I took it as her (not funny) attempt at a joke.

I may have given Minaj more credit judging than I should have because she exceeded my expectations. Likeiwse because of her long success and deep involvement in the music biz, I guess I expected more from Carey. But at the end of the day, I am a devoted fan of neither, nor do I have anything against them, and I have no axe to grind here. It’s not like Lance Armstrong is judging the show and lying about everything! I just gave my take on what I saw, and I should say that when it comes to writing about Idol, which I don’t do very often, I am not doing it as an industry insider, like when I cover food or golf, but rather I do it purely from my perspective as a fan of the show. In that vein, I wish all of the judges nothing but luck and success.

After watching American Idol for 11 seasons (my midwinter guilty pleasure), I can no longer continue to do so. My reason? Simply put, watching and listening to Nicki offends my sense of decency. After checking with quite a few people (from teens to seniors), I discovered that most of them are signing off, too, and for the same reason; even a five year old said Nicki is creepy and, “I don’t like her.” There is just a limit to what many of us are willing to tolerate. If the ratings drop significantly, I hope the producers will recognize their error, and remove Nicki from the judges’ panel. If not, I predict this will be their last season.

Okay I guess we need to say something here about the judges! Please please get rid of Nicky Minja!!She has a filthy mouth & is not appropriate for American Idol Judging!I would not let my children watch or listen to her Foul Mouth!! She is NOT an American Role Model for our Youth or anyone for that matter,she is plain trash!! So I hope you get the messages from others who feel the same way!! We felt the same way about Steven Tyler too! It isn’t necessary to cuss on National Television! Also the whole deal with American Idol is to try out for singing NOT show as much skin & wear the tightest clothes you can! So why not suggest to those who are trying out to dress appropriately as though they are going for a job interview, because in Essence that is what they are doing only On American Television! Show they are serious!

The lack of cohesion reminded me of the Lakers this season. Stand alone they were alright but seeing them all together was off putting. I noticed how randy changed from his laid back persona of season 1 to acting as the teams wip and I didn’t buy it, probably because most the time he just repeated Nicki. Nicki was honest but I didn’t care for her opinions on their clothes and all the extras.

One big problem Idol had was the voice. It seemed like those judges decided to do the exact opposite of what Idol was doing and its working. They seem to enjoy each other, their invested in the contestants, and at multiple points the judges have shown that they can laugh at themselves which is made for a more light hearted viewing experience and big problems for idol.

It will be interesting to see what happens with new judges. Especially if we have Justin Bieber on one show and Usher on the other.